The Miserable Ones
by HollMalik
Summary: Charles Bass, a steadfast and idealistic revolutionary, meets Blair Waldorf, pampered princess turned brave street girl, in the midst of a war against the detested monarchy. Les Mis, Gossip Girl style, with Chuck as Enjolras and Blair as Eponine. CB, DSN.


**Watching Les Mis yesterday was an enlightening experience, and I came home and immediately startled writing this. If it isn't clear, Blair is Eponine, Chuck is Enjolras, Serena is Cosette, and Nate is Marius.**

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**Prologue**

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_Montfermeil, 1823_

Sometimes, Eleanor Waldorf really did wonder how her life would be if she were to run away from everything she had come to know, handsome prince in tow. Spending days and nights tricking clueless strangers left her very little time to think of what she truly wanted.

Most nights, her perpetually drunk husband would bounce in and demand to know what she had managed to gather that day, effectively banishing any thoughts of the charming prince from her mind. Keeping her dim witted husband in line was tiring in itself, so much so that she had little patience for anything or anyone else.

Which was why the irritating girl placed in her care usually bore the brunt of her anger.

"Go fetch water from the well," she told the child, growing more annoyed when she stared back up at her with wide, gaping eyes. "Are you deaf? I said go!"

The stupid girl scurried out of the inn, knowing better than to argue with an angry Madame Waldorf.

Eleanor swept back into the bedroom she shared with her dunce of a husband, determined to get some rest before darkness really fell, and the drunken idiots began to pile in.

Little Blair Waldorf watched her mother slam the door of her bedroom and made sure she was not coming back out before before she ran to the front door so that she could see Serena bounding away.

Observing Serena was one of Blair's favorite pastimes; it was an activity she enjoyed even more than sitting on her father's lap while he swindled customers

For Serena van der Woodsen - last name given to her by a desperate mother who constantly wished for the girl's father to come back - was quite possibly the prettiest girl that Blair had ever seen. Her father assured her that Blair herself was the prettiest, but she knew he was wrong. (Anyhow, her father was always under the influence of the potion that seemed to make men do disgusting things, the one she heard her mother muttering about.)

Serena, her blonde hair as flowing and as graceful as her name, had the voice and the face of an angel. At ten years old, Blair was used to being the best in everything and the apple of her father's eye, and she felt a certain degree of spite toward the other girl that she could not even muster up for that dastardly girl who was always trying to get ahead of her, Penelope.

"That child is the bane of my existence," she would often hear her mother complain to her father, who would drunkenly reply that 'Sabrina' could help her with the housework she was always going on about.

Perhaps the idea that irked Blair the most was that this practically orphaned girl with little to no prospects seemed to still have more hope for the future than Blair did.

She could sing about it all she wanted, but Serena's castle on a cloud did not exist. Her mother had taught her that much.

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_Paris, 1823_

Twelve year old Charles Bartholomew Bass had realized at a very young age that he was no more than a hindrance to his father. Not wanting to invoke more disappointment in him, Charles stayed out of his father's sight when he was in important meetings, instead choosing to eavesdrop in one of his many hiding spots.

It was this habit of his of listening in on his father's meeting that had buried in him a deep rooted hatred for the monarchy. His own grandfather had played an integral role in the first bringing down of the wretched Louis years ago, and his father had followed in his footsteps. Night after night, Charles saw his father and the other men make immaculately meticulous plans take down the present Louis. (Charles privately believed that the royals should have simply named their children with different names, so as to avoid confusion.)

"Chuck!"

He jumped, turning to see his longtime friend and playmate, Nathaniel Archibald. Pretty and fanciful, Nate Archibald served as Chuck's unlikely - and only - confidante.

"_Nathaniel!_" he hissed, making sure no one on the other side of the door he was listening through had heard Nate. "I am on an important mission."

He could always rely on Nate to make him feel dignified, as Nate provided him with the standard exclamations of wonder. The more innocent Nate, having come from a wealthy and royalist background, had an immense fascination with Chuck's mischievous adventures.

As silly as his actions may have seemed to an adult passerby, Charles Bartholomew knew he would one day make his father proud, ultimately taking down the detested monarchy once and for all.

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**Hope you enjoyed! This was quite short as it is the prologue, but the next chapters will be much longer, I promise.**

**Please review!**


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